Last night I attended the Tech in Motion Mobile Security Panel Discussion in Chicago. The panelists consisted of Richard Rushing, the Chief Information Security Officer of Motorola Mobility; Andrew Hoog, CEO/co-founder of viaForensics; Amit Shah, the Co-Founder and CTO at Vaporstream; and John Storozuk, Senior Security Product Manager for Product Security at BlackBerry. The panel provided a great diversity in experiences, which made for a very informative panel.

The evening began with Andrew showing just how easy it was to hack an Android phone. The hack began with a phishing email. A phishing email is an email that looks like it comes from a trusted sender and includes a form or a link for the user is to click. Once they click this link, they are taken to the hacker’s web server where the damage begins. From there, the demonstration showed how a hacker could take advantage of known compromises and gain control of the user’s device.

This demonstrated one of the key aspects of mobile security: Mobile Security Begins with You! In the above demonstration, if the user had not clicked on the link, the hackers would not have gained access to the device. As Andrew says: “users need to be the front line of defence”. It is kind of like how home security has progressed. Your parents or grandparents probably didn’t even lock their doors. Security wasn’t an issue. Slowly, people realized they need to secure their homes and began locking their doors. Then they stepped up security again with alarm systems and home monitoring cameras. Your mobile device carries an incredible amount of information about you. It has business information, hundreds of contacts, documents, banking apps, etc. In the wrong hands, this information can be very damaging.

Clearly you can’t put a key lock on your device like you do with your home, but you can put a software lock. Step one in securing your mobile device is to put a power on/wake up password on the device. This does a couple of things for you. First, it makes it harder for thieves to get access to your device if it is lost or stolen. They have to get past the password. Second, if you are using encryption on your device, it enforces that encryption. If your device uses encryption and you do not have a password, you really aren’t using the encryption. Once the device is on and unlocked, the device is decrypted. If you don’t have a password, your device is always in a decrypted state.

Also, if your device allows, use a password that is more than four numbers. A four number password is very easy to hack via brute force (simply trying all combinations). Use at least six characters and, ideally, throw in some letters and symbols. Yes, it is a little more of a hassle to wake up your phone, but if you lose it or it is stolen, you will be much happier knowing the thieves can’t easily access your phone.

The second thing you should do is pay attention to the applications you install and what permissions they are requesting. Many free apps are free because they want access to your contacts or email. When you install the application, it will prompt you to grant these permissions. If you grant those permissions, the application can do what it wants. Say you install a flashlight app and it asks for contact information. If you agree, that company now has all your contacts information. All your friends’ names, email addresses, and phone numbers. Chances are they are going to sell that information or use it for marketing purposes. When installing apps and they ask for permissions, ask yourself why they need those permissions. If something seems wonky (like a flashlight app asking for contact access), don’t install the app.

A third thing you should keep in mind is your connection to the Internet. Wi-Fi® hotspots are popping up everywhere: airports; coffee shops; public parks; etc. But do you really know who is providing that hotspot? A potential security issue exists if you connect to an unknown hotspot. This hotspot could actually be capturing the information you sending. This could compromise your passwords and other vital information. Imagine you hook up to a hotspot while sitting at a park. You might even think how nice it is to have Wi-Fi access at the park. You proceed to log on to little Web Shopping. Bammo! The hacker who set up that Wi-Fi link now has your account information to the sites you logged into and maybe even your credit card information. Also, if you use the same password for all your log ins (which you shouldn’t do), they may have access to your bank account, credit card information, and other highly damaging sites that use the same login/password combination.

What can you do? Simple, never provide sensitive information over public Wi-Fi. This includes Wi-Fi hotspots you know. After all, you can’t be 100% certain their setup hasn’t be compromised. Never connect to unknown Wi-Fi hotspots just like you wouldn’t get into a stranger’s car. When connecting to any public hotspots, if you are asked to create an account, use a pseudonym and a nonsense password. Asking to create an account is a great way for hackers to get username and password information that you may use on other sites. So don’t give it to them. Your connection is going to be temporary, make your identity that way too.

Before you ditch your mobile device all together, remember that it can be simple to keep your device secure. Follow the steps outlined in this article and just keep your wits about you. Remember the age-old wisdom: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Mobile security starts with you.

Over the past year, we have received a great deal of feedback about the program and we recently announced the revitalization of the Built for BlackBerry program based on feedback we’ve received. The overall goal of the program is to identify applications and games that embrace the BlackBerry 10 philosophy by providing a signature BlackBerry 10 experience. The new criteria is much more detailed than the previous criteria and it may prompt you to wonder how best to apply the new criteria to your application.

Do I have a conference for you! At the end of September, BlackBerry Jam Asia will come to Hong Kong. There, I will present a session “JAM802: Built for BlackBerry: How to go from rejected to approved.” This session will look at specific examples of do’s and don’ts for creating a Built for BlackBerry application. We’ll examine the most common areas of failure for Built for BlackBerry applications and maybe even a surprise or two.

Making your application Built for BlackBerry can have a profound impact on your bottom line and we show you how below:

Applications and games with the Built for BlackBerry designation enjoy benefits designed to increased discoverability of your application or game. They receive a specific badge in the app description right next to the star rating to identify it as Built for BlackBerry. There is also a Built for BlackBerry microbanner in BlackBerry World that takes the user directly to Built for BlackBerry applications. And other new features such as the Top Built for BlackBerry Lists and Search Filter.

Users of BlackBerry 10 devices recognize the importance of the Built for BlackBerry designation. When Built for BlackBerry applications are featured in the microbanner, daily downloads increased by 230%. There was also an increase of 187% in paid daily revenue which will impact your bottom line.

So join me, September 26th and 27th in Hong Kong for BlackBerry Jam Asia. In addition to my session on Built for BlackBerry, you will find a wealth of information about developing for BlackBerry 10. I hope to see you there.

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/08/blackberry-jam-asia-2013-built-for-blackberry-how-to-go-from-rejected-to-approved/feed/0noctivaganbuilt for blackberryjam asiaBuilt for BlackBerry and the BlackBerry Q10http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/06/bfb-blackberry-q10/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/06/bfb-blackberry-q10/#commentsTue, 25 Jun 2013 19:00:35 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=15419/ Read More]]>It seems like just yesterday we launched the BlackBerry Z10 and now we’re in the midst of rolling out the BlackBerry Q10 across the globe. Many people, maybe you included, have been waiting for this device to get their hands on the legendary physical keyboard that BlackBerry is famous for.

This is an exciting time to be a BlackBerry developer and if your application has the Built for BlackBerry designation the launch of the BlackBerry Q10 holds special significance to you. As you know, Built for BlackBerry is about identifying those applications that fully embrace the BlackBerry 10 experience. These applications are easy to use because of the familiarity of the interface – they integrate with the operating system, perform spectacularly, and truly showcase what BlackBerry 10 can do.

In order to maintain your Built for BlackBerry designation, your application or game must support the BlackBerry Q10 by September 3rd, 2013. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Here are a few posts from the Inside BlackBerry Developers Blog that can help get you started:

Don’t forget about the wealth of sample code on our github repository and our fabulous support forum. Both are here to help you be successful with your application or game development. If you’re looking for something more step-by-step, you can always access our BlackBerry Jam Content.

So don’t delay, start bringing your application or game to the BlackBerry Q10 today and get access to the latest BlackBerry enthusiasts.

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/06/bfb-blackberry-q10/feed/0noctivaganTITLE_IMAGEGadget Box: A Handy Built for BlackBerry Applicationhttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/04/built-for-blackberry-gadget-box/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/04/built-for-blackberry-gadget-box/#commentsWed, 10 Apr 2013 14:19:57 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=14593/ Read More]]>I like to think of myself as a handy guy, but in actuality, I’m not. Oh I have a garage full of tools: hammers, saws, power tools of all shapes and sizes, I just don’t use them very much. As it turns out, the tool I use most is a hammer. Hammers can fix anything. Well, hammers and duct tape. And if you’re like me, I know where my hammer is but not many of the other tools. My garage is a disaster (but that’s a different blog).

On a recent chore weekend, I found myself with a list of things to fix, pictures to hang, stereo components to rewire, and spaces to measure. I thought about digging through my garage for all the necessary tools, then I decided to have another cup of coffee and check my sports’ scores. I pulled out my BlackBerry Z10 to load my sports app when it hit me: is there an app to help me with my weekend chores? That’s when I found Gadget Box.

Gadget Box is the handyman’s dream. In one application you have a flashlight, speedometer, protractor, level, compass, ruler, Morse Code generator, height estimator, and units converter. First on my list was to hook up a cables to my TV box for my upstairs TV.

Of course, the TV box was inside a very dark cabinet. No worries. Using the transform hard shell on my BlackBerry Z10, I could prop up the device, turn on the Flashlight and have a steady source of light on my subject. I connected the cables and was done. Since Gadget Box is a Built for BlackBerry application I knew that it followed the BlackBerry UI/UX guidelines for gestures. A simple swipe with my thumb and the flashlight was gone and I was back at the main screen.

Next on the list: hang a new antique, land-line phone on my wall. This chore required me to put two screws in the wall that were in line with each other. I’m told they need to be “plumb”. I guess I need something other than a hammer. So with a couple of self-drilling screws and my BlackBerry Z10, I was ready to go. I put the first screw into the wall, then used the app’s ruler to measure to where the next screw would go. A really groovy thing about Gadget Box’s ruler is that it slides. So I could put my finger on the app’s ruler to “hold it in place” and then slide the Z10. This allows you to measure distances greater than the height of the phone. Very handy. To make sure the hole was plumb with the other screw; I used the level in Gadget Box. The initial screen had a typical bubble level that I wasn’t too keen to use in this situation. No worries, I clicked the overflow menu where I could select a Plumb Bob and I was all set. Made the mark on the wall, set the screw, and the new land-line phone was hung perfectly straight. Kind of ironic, I used a mobile phone to help hang a land-line phone.

I could go on about my day and how I used Gadget Box, but that probably wouldn’t be the best use of your time. The important take away from this story is that Gadget Box is a Built for BlackBerry application. And because it is, I knew how to use it before I even installed it. The application felt familiar to me from the very first swipe to the last interaction. I also knew that it would provide me more functionality than just a simple single function application. Instead of one app for a flashlight, another for the level, and third for measuring, I had a multi-function application that provided me with enhanced productivity; another key criteria for a Built for BlackBerry application.

The only thing Gadget Box is missing is a duct tape application and a hammer – the two tools I already have. (I don’t recommend using your BlackBerry Z10 as a hammer). So if you’re like me, a weekend handyman, check out Gadget Box and discover the enhanced productivity it can bring to your BlackBerry Z10.

Ever since the launch of BlackBerry 10 on January 30th, momentum for the BlackBerry 10 platform has been explosive – BlackBerry World currently has over 100,000 apps and games and is growing every single day. Now is the time to port your existing apps and build new ones for the rapidly growing Built for BlackBerry platform.

Wavefront and BlackBerry are teaming up to present hands-on development workshops to support your app building and get you prepared to submit to BlackBerry World.

The BlackBerry Jam Starter Session will take you through the basic principles of building BlackBerry apps, with an overview of what to expect through the process. After the session, you will have the opportunity to start building your own BlackBerry apps with support from on-site BlackBerry Evangelists.

Who should attend?

Developers with an HTML5, Cascades, Air, or Android app, who are ready to port to BlackBerry 10

Experienced developers wanting to learn more about the BlackBerry opportunity

Why develop apps for BlackBerry?

Increase your reach to a new audience of early adopters looking for great quality apps

Showcase your apps that may be buried or lost in other saturated stores

Where:

When:

Where:

Register now to learn how you can develop cutting edge BlackBerry apps that will increase your reach and grow your revenue.

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/04/blackberry-jam-starter-session/feed/0noctivaganThe Built for BlackBerry Appeals Processhttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/03/built-for-blackberry-appeals/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/03/built-for-blackberry-appeals/#commentsTue, 26 Mar 2013 13:55:05 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=14320/ Read More]]>Based on your feedback on our Built for BlackBerry program, we are introducing a new process into the program. We are allowing vendors a one-time per application appeal to the Built for BlackBerry vetting decision. This new process is part of our on-going dedication to serving the developer community and is designed to address any concerns regarding the implementation of the Built for BlackBerry criteria into certain high-quality applications.

What’s the Difference Between Appeal and Re-Submit?

Currently, you have the ability to re-submit your application if does not pass Built for BlackBerry. So when should you consider re-submitting your app versus using your one appeal? Only use the Built for BlackBerry Appeals process If you have received a Built for BlackBerry rejection and you believe the current version of your app is Built for BlackBerry worthy. For example, if you have submitted a “single-function” app of significant quality to be reconsidered as part of the Built for BlackBerry program, you may want to appeal. However, you may only appeal one time.

However, if you have received a Built for BlackBerry rejection and have made changes to the application to better align with the criteria necessary to be designated as Built for BlackBerry, then you should re-submit the application since you can have up to three attempts for a positive vetting decision.

Bottom line: if you rework the application, you re-submit. If you think the application should be reconsidered as is, then use your one appeal.

How to Appeal

If you choose not to make any changes to your application and want to enter into the one-time appeal process:

Your appeal will be sent to the Built for BlackBerry Appeals Team where the special panel of Built for BlackBerry Appeals Experts will vet the appeal and record their decision. You will be notified of the decision by the Built for BlackBerry Appeals Team. The decision of the Built for BlackBerry Appeals Team is final.

We’re adjusting the Built for BlackBerry program to include an appeals process, to both respond to requests from you, our developer community, while remaining committed to the goal of Built for BlackBerry: to recognize high-quality applications that showcase the power of the new BlackBerry 10 platform. Thank you for your interest in the Built for BlackBerry program and your feedback. Keep those posts and tweets coming!

Momentum for the BlackBerry 10 platform has been explosive since the launch of BlackBerry 10 on January 30th. BlackBerry World currently has over 70,000 apps and games and is growing every day. There hasn’t been a better time to start building for BlackBerry.

Wavefront and BlackBerry are teaming up to present hands-on development workshops to support your app building and get you prepared to submit to BlackBerry World.

The BlackBerry Jam Starter Session will take you through the basic principles of building BlackBerry apps, with an overview of what to expect through the process. After the session, you will have the opportunity to start building your own BlackBerry apps with support from on-site BlackBerry Evangelists.

Who should attend?
• Developers with a HTML5, Adobe AIR, or Android app ready to port to BlackBerry 10
• Experienced developers wanting to learn more about the BlackBerry opportunity

Why develop apps for BlackBerry?
• Increase your reach to a new audience of early adopters looking for great quality apps
• Showcase your apps that may be buried or lost in other saturated stores

Register now to learn how you can develop cutting edge BlackBerry apps that will increase your reach and grow your revenue.

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/03/blackberry-jam-starter-session-vancouver-and-saskatoon/feed/0noctivaganTITLE_IMAGEregsaskregvancA Few Of My Favorite Things in BlackBerry 10http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/02/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-blackberry-10/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/02/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-blackberry-10/#commentsThu, 14 Feb 2013 15:19:37 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=13770/ Read More]]>With the launch of BlackBerry 10 on January 30th, some of you now have your hands on a shiny new BlackBerry Z10. I am sure you are enjoying the ease of “BlackBerry Hub”, “BlackBerry Flow”, and the deep integration with social networks. One of the great things about being a BlackBerry Developer Evangelist is that I have been using the BlackBerry Z10 for several months and the BlackBerry 10 OS has a lot of power and incredible functionality. So much so, that there are a few features that sometimes get overlooked. So, let me share with you a few of my favorite things about BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Z10 that you may have missed.

Let’s start with the very groovy BlackBerry keyboard. By now, you have seen (and may have experienced) the ease of using the keyboard. You have probably grown very fond of the predictive text and the ability to flip words into the text stream. But here are a couple of things about the keyboard you may not know.

Popup Letters. In default mode, when you press a key on the keyboard that key is momentarily highlighted to provide visual feedback of the key pressed. However, if you have large thumbs you may not be able to see that feedback. For some people, that’s not a problem as predictive text is their feedback. For others, they want a little more feedback. No worries, you can use the Settings app to turn on Popup Letters. To change this setting, swipe from the top bezel to drop the Settings menu, then click Settings, then Language and Input. In the middle you will find Text Input. Here, you click On-Screen Keyboard to change the options of the keyboard. Turning on Keypress Pop-up will make the keyboard pop-up the letter with each press.

Dropping Keyboard. The keyboard is one of the great features of BlackBerry 10, or in my opinion any smartphone. Sometimes you need to dismiss the keyboard. There are three easy ways to dismiss a keyboard. First, if you swipe down on the keyboard with two fingers, the keyboard disappears. You can also swipe up from the bottom bezel to close the keyboard. This action is actually a toggle. So if you have a situation where you don’t have a keyboard and need one, swipe up from the bottom bezel to bring the keyboard back. The final way, is to press and hold the space bar. This is my favorite way to dismiss the keyboard since I tend to use my BlackBerry Z10 with one hand. On the space bar you will see a little icon of the keyboard with a little down arrow. This is a reminder that holding the space bar will drop the keyboard.

Quick Setting Actions. By now you are probably pretty familiar with the quick settings menu: a swipe down from the top bezel while on the home screen or the active app screen brings down a quick settings menu. The groovy thing about this menu is it serves two functions. If you want to adjust a setting for say, Bluetooth, you click on the word Bluetooth and you are taken directly to the settings page for that feature. However, if all you want to do is turn Bluetooth off, click the icon to quickly toggle the feature. If the feature is on, clicking the icon turns it off and if the feature is off, a click of the icon turns it on. Really great for putting the BlackBerry Z10 into silent mode: just click the icon next to the Notifications label and all notifications are silenced!

Letting Someone Know Where You Are. So the other day, I was waiting for some friends in a restaurant in Amsterdam. It was a tricky little walk to find the restaurant and my friends got lost. Since I knew how to get there, I simply sent them a BBM and asked them to share their location. With that information, I could help them navigate to the restaurant. Since they were also on BlackBerry 10, they could easily send me their location. They clicked me in their BBM contact list. Then, they clicked the Attach icon at the bottom. This gives them options to attach pictures, voice note, contact, appointment, file, or even location. From there, they attached their current location. Once I got the BBM, I could then give them directions to the restaurant. Incredibly handy feature.

Quick Pane Navigation. As with any smartphone, after a while you learn which pane a specific or favorite application lives. Let’s say your favorite game is on pane number 4. One of the great things about BlackBerry 10 is you can navigate straight to pane number 4 by clicking the fourth dot at the bottom. This click jumps you straight to pane four and your favorite game. You can also quickly scroll by clicking and dragging on the dots at the bottom. A quick way to glance through each pane.

The thing is, I could go on for pages and pages about all the really cool things about BlackBerry 10, but what about you? Leave a comment with your favorite BlackBerry 10 feature, tip, or trick so we can all share in the richness of BlackBerry 10.

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/02/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-in-blackberry-10/feed/0noctivaganWhat Makes a Built For BlackBerry Gamehttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/what-makes-a-built-for-blackberry-game/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/what-makes-a-built-for-blackberry-game/#commentsMon, 28 Jan 2013 15:01:19 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=13317/ Read More]]>As a BlackBerry employee, I have the lucky privilege of using BlackBerry hardware and software before the general public. Case in point: I have been on BlackBerry 10 for over three months and loving every minute of it! But don’t fret, with the launch event on January 30th, soon you too will be in the incredibly groovy world of BlackBerry 10 – and when you get there, you’re going to be looking to download apps and games. So let me share my new addiction: Sparkle.

The goal of Sparkle is to “embark on an extraordinary journey to uncover the secrets of Crowberry Woods. Banish the darkness with your Orb Slinger and reclaim your land!” The game play is brilliant in its simplicity; you use your Orb Slinger to throw colored orbs at a line of moving orbs. When your orb hits the line, if it makes a string of at least three of the same color, those orbs are banished. You keep throwing orbs until all the moving orbs are banished or until an orb falls in the hole at the end.

There is also a fun storyline, power-ups, and secret amulets that keeps the game interesting and engaging. Another big feature of the game is it is also a Built For BlackBerry game.

What is Built For BlackBerry?

If you’re a frequent follower of this blog or BlackBerry development in general, then you probably already know about Built For BlackBerry and can skip to the next section. :) If not, here’s a quick overview of Built For BlackBerry:

The Built For BlackBerry program was designed to allow end users of BlackBerry 10 applications to identify the truly high-quality, cream of the crop application and games. These applications and games went above and beyond just developing for the platform – they embraced the ideas and philosophies behind the BlackBerry 10 platform. There are five key areas where the application must excel: User Benefits, User Experience, Performance, Service Integration, and Security. It is not easy to become a Built For BlackBerry application or game, so let’s look at how Sparkle did it.

User Benefits

Clearly almost every application or game made must provide some level of user benefit; if it didn’t, you probably wouldn’t have made the application. To qualify for Built For BlackBerry, the bar is set higher. Your application or game has to provide genuine entertainment value, enhanced productivity, and/or enriched communication. Looking at Sparkle, it provides genuine entertainment value beyond a basic game. A basic game might just allow you clear the orbs level after level of monotonous orb banishing. But in Sparkle, there is genuine long-term entertainment with the addition of a storyline, power-ups, and mysterious quests.

User Experience

The User Experience area for Built For BlackBerry is about providing the user with a pleasing experience and an easy-to-navigate application or game. It is about taking advantage of the form factor and using it to your advantage. Sparkle runs in landscape mode only and it utilizes the maximum amount of screen real estate. The application navigation is simple and user friendly. Simple taps launch the orbs and swipes move the aim. There is also a nice background soundtrack and theme feedback sounds on button clicks. Familiar gestures are used, like swipe down from the top to pause the game and reach the options menu, and the animation is ridiculously smooth and pleasing.

Performance

The performance criteria are about how the application uses the system resources including CPU, memory, network, battery, etc. It is difficult to see this criterion when running the application except to know that I can play for a very, very, very long time before the battery dies. :)

Service Integration

To qualify for Built For BlackBerry, an application must integrate with the system in some way. Games are not required to integrate with the system, but are encouraged to do so. Sparkle integrates with Scoreloop, the social gaming component of BlackBerry 10. Scoreloop allows a game to post achievements, awards, leaderboards, and challenges.

Security

To qualify in the Security criteria, you need to do a couple things. First, you need to be good to your users. Don’t send passwords in clear text; don’t make any monetary transactions without asking permission; and don’t use the user’s data in a malicious way. You want your users to trust you so they will buy more of your applications or games. The second thing you must do is provide a link to your privacy policy in the vendor portal of BlackBerry World.

Conclusion

When building your application or game, I encourage you to utilize the guidelines and create a Built For BlackBerry application or game. It isn’t easy, as the Built For BlackBerry logo is not awarded to just any application or game – it must be earned. The Built For BlackBerry logo will identify your application or game as cream of the crop and that, I feel, will lead to more downloads and happier customers. And who knows, your application or game may get featured in a blog post like this one!

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/what-makes-a-built-for-blackberry-game/feed/0noctivaganTITLE_IMAGEbuilt-for-blackberry-game-2built-for-blackberry-game-3Creating a Debug Version of your WebWorks Application for Built For BlackBerryhttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/create-debug-version-of-webworks-app/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/create-debug-version-of-webworks-app/#commentsWed, 02 Jan 2013 15:50:26 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=12864/ Read More]]>Well, here it is: the beginning of a new year, and the launch event for BlackBerry 10 is less than a month away. If you’re like me, you’re pretty pumped and probably really busy, particularly if you are creating a Built For BlackBerry application. In order to qualify for the 10k Developer Commitment, all Built For BlackBerry applications must be submitted for testing by January 21st, 2013. If you’re building a BlackBerry WebWorks application, there’s an extra step involved that you may have missed.

Recall that Built For BlackBerry applications go through two rounds of testing. The first round is the standard BlackBerry World testing that all applications must pass before they are allowed in BlackBerry World. This testing must be completed before you submit your application to Built For BlackBerry testing. We strongly encourage you to have your application submitted to BlackBerry World testing by January 11th, 2013. Once your application has passed BlackBerry World testing, you submit it to Built For BlackBerry testing. However, if you are building a BlackBerry WebWorks application, you don’t submit the same binary.

That’s right, in order for our testing agency to complete the Built For BlackBerry testing on BlackBerry WebWorks applications, we need you to submit a debug version of the application. Don’t panic – this is very easy to do and you can create the debug version the same time you create the non-debug version.

Perhaps the simplest way to create the debug version of the application is to use the Apache Ant build script. But if Ant just ain’t your thing, no worries – you can create your debug application using the command line packager bbwp. All you have to do is pass the debug switch (-d) like this:

bbwp “c:\myapp\apparchive.zip” -d -o “c:\myapp\debug”

The bbwp script takes the name and location of the application archive as the first argument: here c:\myapp\apparchive.zip. The -d switch tells the script to enable Web Inspector, thus creating a debug version of the application. The -o switch specifies the output directory for the bar file. That’s it! You now have a debug version of your application. Finally, make sure you sign the debug version of your application.

You now have two identical copies of your application. You have the non-debug version that is created without the -d, and a debug version which is created with the -d option. The non-debug version is the one you will submit to BlackBerry World testing. Make sure you do not submit the debug version to BlackBerry World testing. Once your application passes, you need to submit the debug version to Built For BlackBerry testing.

Log into the BlackBerry Vendor Portal and navigate to the manage products area. Make sure your application is Up For Sale in BlackBerry World. Then select Add Release and upload the debug version of your application.

Enter “Debug” in the Release section and select Apply for Built For BlackBerry. Read and agree to the Built For BlackBerry and 10k Developer Commitment terms and conditions and click Save. That’s it, you’re all done. Congratulations, your BlackBerry WebWorks application is now correctly submitted!

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/create-debug-version-of-webworks-app/feed/0noctivaganTITLE_IMAGESubmitting your app for Built For BlackBerryhttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/submit-app-built-for-blackberry/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/submit-app-built-for-blackberry/#commentsThu, 29 Nov 2012 14:51:50 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=12399/ Read More]]>You have your application or game approved in BlackBerry World. It’s a killer application. It follows all the BlackBerry UI/UX guidelines, integrates with the BlackBerry® 10 operating system and it runs lean. In short, you have a good feeling it qualifies for the Built For BlackBerry and 10k Developer Commitment programs. But how exactly do you get your application or game considered for the programs?

The first thing to take notice is the Status of your application. Before you can apply for Built For BlackBerry, the status must be Approved or Up For Sale. If your application has not been approved for BlackBerry World, you cannot submit it to Built For BlackBerry testing. If the status is approved, you will see the word Apply underneath the heading “Built For BlackBerry”. Go ahead, click that link.

Here is where you agree to the terms and conditions of the two programs. If you are only interested in the Built For BlackBerry Program, you only need read and agree to those terms. This means your application or game will go through Built For BlackBerry testing but will not be eligible for the 10k Developer Commitment. If you want to be part of the 10k Developer Commitment, then you must read and agree to both terms and conditions. Once you have read and agreed to the terms, check the boxes next to the appropriate terms and conditions and click Save.

Your Manage Product screen will be updated to show you have applied for the program and your application is Pending approval.

Once your application or game has passed the Built For BlackBerry testing, the term Pending will change to Approved. But what if something is amiss? What if your application or game is Rejected?

Don’t panic – you’ll see that there is a message icon next to the term Rejected. Clicking this message icon will show you the reason(s) why your application failed the Built For BlackBerry testing. You can fix those issues in your application and resubmit the application for Built For BlackBerry testing.

That’s really all there is to it! Built For BlackBerry will identify your application as a great BlackBerry 10 application. I am really excited to start seeing, using, and playing all the Built For BlackBerry applications and games. Remember, launch is January 30th 2013, so make sure you get your apps into Built For BlackBerry testing before January 21st, 2013.

In the Built for BlackBerry program, you will be able to submit BlackBerry® 10 WebWorks™ or BlackBerry® 10 Native apps for approval. Approval through the Built for BlackBerry program will signify to customers a higher level of quality. With a crowded app market, this designation may increase the chances of your app being downloaded. This will be free (for now). BlackBerry 10 apps that pass will receive “Built for BlackBerry” quality status, which you can display with your app on your site, in BlackBerry App World – anywhere you market your apps. This is a great opportunity for professional developers to powerfully differentiate their apps in BlackBerry App World.

We are so committed to the success of BlackBerry® 10, that we guarantee that your Built for BlackBerry-approved application will earn at least $10,000 USD in the first year or we will pay the difference. If your app earns1 at least $1,000 USD, but less than $10,000 USD, remains on sale for a 12 month period as outlined by RIM and maintains its’ Built for BlackBerry designation for the duration of the 12 months and otherwise meets the eligibility criteria, RIM will pay you the difference between what you earned and $10,000 USD2. Developers are only eligible to receive this one time. The 10K Developer Commitment is a limited-funds offer and will continue only until the $10 million fund pool is exhausted. Funds will be distributed in order of priority based on the date upon which apps reach $1,000 USD in earnings. See the Terms and Conditions for complete details.

Don’t think of this as RIM paying you to develop for BlackBerry 10, it is our commitment to you that quality applications will make at least $10,000 USD. We’re confident your quality applications will make over $10K in the first year; we’re just providing a kind of insurance policy to you, a financial cushion, if you will.

After you have been introduced to the programs, take a listen to the second webcast: Built For BlackBerry: UX, UI, and System Integration. In this Webcast I go a little deeper into the User Experience, User Interface, and System integration criteria in the Built For BlackBerry program. You will see examples of good user experience, UI design, and system integration. The Webcast also discusses best practices for user interface elements like tabs, menus, and action bars. You’ll get information about integration with BBM™, Push, the Invocation Framework, and NFC.

The third webcast focuses on performance. For this webcast I have assembled three experts from each of the key BlackBerry 10 Platforms. Roberto Speranza will talk about his Top 10 tips to address performance on Native Development. Graham Robertson will take you on a tour of increasing the performance of your BlackBerry® WebWorks™ applications and Dustin Malik will look at AIR and some performance recommendations. This webcast is crammed with great tips and information for your applications.

If you missed the webcasts, this is a great opportunity to get caught up. If you attended the Webcasts, you can review the material to make sure you got every nugget of information. Here is the link to the webcast recordings and for more information about the programs, check out 10k Commitment and Built for BlackBerry.

1.“Earns” refers to the amount that consumers pay for both paid downloads and in-app payments using BlackBerry Payment Service less any refunds and less applicable taxes included in the amount consumers pay, multiplied by the proportion of sales owing to the Vendor as defined by the Vendor Agreement. “Earns” does not include any advertising revenue. See Terms and Conditions for complete details.

2. A maximum of $10,000,000USD will be distributed under this Offer. Limit one (1) payout per Vendor. Twelve month period to be determined by RIM.

I was recently in Raleigh, North Carolina at the NCDevCon Conference. I was presenting things to think about when developing a mobile application. Sometimes, it seems that in the rush to get an application built and out the door, designers and developers forget that a mobile device is not the same as a desktop device.

In this session, I cover everything from Platform choices and development options to physical differences between desktop and mobile computing. I also discuss the mobile user experience and how mobile devices are used differently than desktops.

Fortunately, the nice people at NC State are graciously hosting the recording of this session. I invite you to watch the session and maybe pick up a nugget or two.

(Tom also did an interview with DZone – here’s the video. – Ed.)

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/10/develop-mobile-application/feed/0noctivagantomandersonUsing bbUI.js Scroll-Panelhttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/08/scroll-panel/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/08/scroll-panel/#commentsTue, 14 Aug 2012 17:07:17 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=10685]]>With the release of bbUI.js 0.9.3, a new feature appeared called the Scroll-Panel. The idea is simple enough: have a section of your application that scrolls independently of the items around it. I was waiting for this feature to be released for two reasons: First, I was there when the idea was conceived and implemented. Second, I need this feature in my ZenLottery application.

The idea was conceived and implemented at the BlackBerry Jam World Tour in Toronto, where Tim Neil (@brcewane) was scheduled to present. If you didn’t know, Tim is one of the main authors of bbUI.js. During one of the breaks, an attendee approached Tim with the idea of adding an independently scrolling panel to the bbUI.js. Funny thing is, Tim thought it was a great idea and produced the initial branch over lunch! Right there in front of us, the birth of a new feature.

I have been waiting for this feature for my application: ZenLottery. With ZenLottery, you can generate lottery numbers based on your location. One feature of ZenLottery is the ability to save the sets of generated numbers. If you can save the numbers, then you should be able to delete them as well. The design called for the numbers to be displayed and a delete button at the bottom. Without the Scroll-Panel feature, the delete button may be off the bottom of the screen, if the user chooses to generate more than 8 sets of lottery numbers.

That’s not a good user experience. How do they even know the Delete button is there? The solution is to have a scrollable panel for the sets of numbers. Then, the user can scroll through the numbers without losing the Delete button off the bottom of the screen. With the new scroll-panel feature in bbUI.js, I was ready to rock n’ roll!

The code for showing the sets of numbers is pretty simple. There are two divs: the outer and the inner div. The two divs work together to make sure the numbers are centered on the screen:

As with the other elements in the bbUI.js, the scroll-panel is a div that gets a special tag. The tag used is data-bb-type and the value is “scroll-panel”. I figured I would add this to the outer div and all would be grand:

Notice I also added a style tag to specify the height of the panel. This style tag limits the height of the div and helps to create the scrolling affect I wanted. Now the numbers could scroll and the delete button could stay put. However, there was an unforeseen side effect: I lost the centering of the numbers.

It turns out that the only formatting you can add to the scroll panel is style=”height: ###px”. This tag is necessary so the panel knows its boundaries. Without this style, the panel would occupy the whole screen. At first I thought: no center, bummer. But not to worry! There is a simple solution: keep the centerOuter and centerInner divs the way they were and add the scrolling panel as a wrapper:

Voila! I now have the centered, scrollable sets of numbers while the delete button stays right where it is. Groovy!

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/08/scroll-panel/feed/0noctivaganTTILE_IMAGEMy Road To BlackBerry Developmenthttp://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/07/blackberry-development/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/07/blackberry-development/#commentsFri, 06 Jul 2012 15:07:54 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=10080]]>Since the dawn of the web in the mid-90s, I have always been a web development guy. My experience centered on Microsoft® technologies: .NET and C#. In the summer of 2011, I decided it was time for something new: to explore the world of mobile application development.

Like so many before me, I began to travel the well-worn road of iOS® development. I started learning Objective-C with “Learn Objective-C on the Mac” by Dalrymple and Knaster. However, this is where the road began to become a bit bumpy. The book was well-written with a fabulous introduction to Objective-C, but it was with Objective-C that I was beginning to “object”. To me, the system seemed cobbled together without a clear road. It even appeared that the language was half-way to converting to the dot syntax. No matter – the goal was to produce an iPhone application, so I worked my way through the book chapter by chapter.

Next step was developing for an iOS device. I bought myself a MacBook® Pro and installed XCode (3.2 was the current version). Since I liked the Dalrymple/Knaster book, I purchased “Beginning iPhone 4 Development” by Mark, Nutting, and LaMarche, which was considered part of the series.

The experience of learning iOS development went pretty smoothly. As before, I worked my way chapter by chapter through the book. I found the Mark, Nutting, and LaMarche book to be of the same high quality as the Dalrymple/Knaster book. The examples were well-written and very practical. My road had smoothed a bit, and about two-thirds of the way through the book, I felt I had the necessary knowledge to build my first application.

I picked a lottery app as my first application because it encompasses many of the requirements of other applications. You need to get user input regarding how many draws to make, you need to generate data, display the data in a nice format, save this user data (in this case, the picks made), and store user preferences. In addition, the Zen part was using the geolocation services to generate a random number seed based on the location of the person. ZenLottery was posted to the App Store on March 27, 2012, about six months after starting my journey down the iPhone road.

I figured that was it. Like everyone else, I priced it at $0.99 and waited for the iPhone gold to start pouring into my bank account. And I waited. And I waited. Hmmmm. Something must be amiss. A search for “lottery” in the App Store returned about 750 lottery apps. There had to be a better way.

Around this time a good friend of mine had joined Research In Motion® (RIM®). He was talking to me about the upcoming BlackBerry® 10 release and its huge potential. I started playing around with the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet to get an idea of what is coming in the future from RIM. It was here that I had come to the proverbial fork in the road: Do I take the well-traveled iPhone road or the less-traveled BlackBerry road? I had already invested six months in the iPhone road – maybe I should just keep on trekking. On the other hand, I was very taken with the capabilities of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the potential it represented for BlackBerry 10. It was time to take the road less traveled.

I joined RIM at the end of April 2012. My introduction to the company and the technology was at the BlackBerry 10 Jam in Orlando, Florida. BlackBerry 10 Jam was a conference for developers, produced by developers, and presented by developers: a no-nonsense show about developing for the BlackBerry 10 platform. There are several technologies you can use to develop BB10 applications: C++, Adobe® AIR®, even HTML5. With my history in web development, I decided to focus on the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ platform.

The BlackBerry WebWorks platform allows developers to write BlackBerry 10 applications using HTML5 and JavaScript®. Since these are standard technologies I could also take advantage of many of the JavaScript frameworks like jQuery and Dojo.

At the BlackBerry 10 Jam, I learned how to install the pieces necessary to develop a BlackBerry WebWorks application, including the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK and the Ripple emulator. The Ripple emulator runs as a Chrome plugin and allows you to view your application without a BlackBerry 10 device. Although the process was not a single file install like the iPhone, the instruction at BlackBerry 10 Jam made it easy. At the Jam I was also introduced to the bbUI.js project, which is an open source project on Github that mimics the new BlackBerry 10 Cascades™ UI.

Back home after the show, it was time to develop my own application. I downloaded the Aptana studio to use as my IDE and I followed the instructions for installation that I learned at BlackBerry 10 Jam. Next, I logged on to Github to download the bbUI.js project so I could leverage the new UI. I was happy to see the bbUI.js project included a large library of sample code. Following the sample code made utilizing the power of the library a snap. I had my pieces together – time to start cutting code.

My first application was a simple one: utilize the bbUI.js framework to produce a context menu when the user clicks a button. The context menu would list several images. Clicking on the menu item would load the image into the screen. Seemed like a good little application to get my feet wet with Aptana, BlackBerry WebWorks, and the bbUI.js.

To my surprise, about an hour and half after starting the project I was done. There was no need to read chapter by chapter through massive books. BlackBerry WebWorks used technologies I already knew and the sample code provided clear examples. The application was running in the simulator and on my BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. It was thrilling to see my code running on the tablet. Granted, it was a simple application, but it was my code. I then realized that I had produced an application for the BlackBerry platform after only a few days of study: three days at BlackBerry 10 Jam, a day getting my machine set up, and less than two hours of development time. I compared that to my iPhone experience of six months. For me, the road less traveled was actually a shortcut to application development!

It is clear to me that attending BlackBerry 10 Jam was an excellent way to jumpstart my BlackBerry development. Apparently, RIM thinks so too as they are taking BlackBerry 10 Jam on the road. If you want the easiest and quickest way to learn BlackBerry development or ramp up your existing skills, you can attend these same sessions, still delivered by developers, in a city near you for free. Just go to http://www.blackberryjamworldtour.com for details and registration. By attending BlackBerry 10 Jam, you will get a head start on developing for the exciting BlackBerry 10 platform and get prepared to take advantage of an untapped market.

Next I plan to recreate ZenLottery for BlackBerry 10 and document my journey here in the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog. Hopefully my blog posts will be a useful tool for people who want to learn as I learn.

I have chosen the BlackBerry road, and it has made all the difference.

Last weekend, I ventured to my first hackathon — and I must admit, I didn’t know what to expect. The hackathon was called Angelhack, and was hosted simultaneously in New York, Seattle, Silicon Valley, and Boston. I attended the Boston event and arrived for the sponsor set-up at 8:00 to put my table together. So far, it felt like a regular trade show.

Then the attendees started to arrive. They were mostly young, college-age people with a smattering of older techies. As people walked by the BlackBerry® table, they would look at the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets on display and nod politely. After a few minutes, I got the attention of a young man and started asking him what he knew about the BlackBerry and BlackBerry® 10. “Nothing,” he said. I began to talk to him about BlackBerry 10 and the benefits of the new QNX kernel. He was impressed to hear that he could “choose his road” to get to BlackBerry 10, whether his road is HTML5, C++, Adobe® AIR®, or even Android™. I also noticed a few glances from some of the people at the other tables. Interest was building.

At Angelhack, there is a period of about four hours where the attendees can mingle and start to get to know each other. They can talk to the sponsors and even make idea pitches to the other attendees. Then it is time for the sponsors to pitch their platforms. I was the last to pitch; it was the perfect position. I knew that everyone would have heard the other pitches and I could trump them all. I had three minutes and I was determined to make the most of it.

I started with the BlackBerry 10 Jam information showing the growth of BlackBerry applications. I talked about the 254% increase in BlackBerry App World™ storefront vendors and the 240% increase in BlackBerry PlayBook tablet apps in the last quarter. I talked about RIM’s commitment to the developer, how we have seeded over 20,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets and will seed 5,000 BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha prototype devices. I talked about the BlackBerry Developer Relations group and how they are here for the sole purpose of helping developers make fantastic apps for the BlackBerry 10 platform. I could tell interest was building, but my three minutes was almost up, so it was time for the closer – in Q2 2011, BlackBerry App World generated 43% more average daily downloads per app than iOS App Store and 48% more than the Android Market/Google Play.

That seemed to seal the deal. Returning to my sponsor’s table, I now had a full house. People were interested in BlackBerry 10 and how to write applications for the platform. I showed demos of BlackBerry® WebWorks™ apps running on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to illustrate how quick and responsive it is. Web developers couldn’t believe it. One artist/developer wanted to see how his HTML5 canvas app ran on BlackBerry PlayBook tablet because he had been disappointed in the performance on other platforms. We loaded his app (http://whitchlight.com/sana) and he was awestruck by the speed in which the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet rendered his canvas application. It is just another example of the excellent HTML5 support in the browser on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry 10.

As my first hackathon came to a close, I felt a little sad to be leaving. I had met some incredibly talented and creative people, and I had seen some great apps created — even some works of art. I told myself that although this was my first hackathon, it wouldn’t be my last.

Maybe I’ll see you at the next one?

]]>http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/07/angelhack-boston/feed/0noctivaganTITLE_IMAGEBlackBerry 10 Jam – Toronto ROCKS!http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/06/blackberry-10-jam-toronto/
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/06/blackberry-10-jam-toronto/#commentsFri, 22 Jun 2012 20:06:04 +0000http://devblog.blackberry.com/?p=9945/ Read More]]>The BlackBerry® 10 Jam World Tour arrived home in Toronto to a packed house. From the very beginning of the day, the positive energy and electricity was palpable as if it was the crowd before a sold-out rock concert. The success of the BlackBerry 10 Jam World tour had primed the anticipation in the crowd and before the show even began – expectations were high and we made sure we delivered.

Martyn Mallick took the stage first and he exceeded the expectations of the crowd. Martyn laid out some of the thinking behind BlackBerry 10 to give the hungry crowd the foundation they needed. He further fueled their appetite with information about the growth of BlackBerry applications in the BlackBerry™ App World storefront.

Martyn was then joined on stage by Wes Worsfold and Aaron Barnes from Motek Mobile. Wes and Aaron demonstrated their application B’Giftee running on the BlackBerry10 Dev Alpha prototype device. B’Giftee is an application that allows people to share the things they love with their friends. The application allows the user to generate a kind, on-the-fly gift card for any item they want to share, then, they share that with their friends. The application ran beautifully on the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device allowing Wes to share a bottle of his favorite beer with Aaron.

Martyn then welcomed Mohammad Agha and Ian MacDonald from Magmic. Magmic demoed their incredibly popular Texas Hold ‘Em King Live; an online multiplayer poker experience. The graphics were stunning, the animations smooth, and the game play flawless. If you are a poker fan, this is your game. It makes it so you can play with poker players all over the world: all for FREE!

After Martyn, Gary Klassen took the stage. Gary introduced the developers in attendance to the BlackBerry 10 user experience. His passion and commitment to BlackBerry 10 was obvious in his presentation. Gary also demonstrated the new BlackBerry 10 keyboard with its predictive text capabilities. His demo was greeted with enthusiastic applause and was a topic of conversation the rest of the day. Gary showed that due to the predictive capabilities of the keyboard, he could type an entire sentence in four keystokes and 6 flips of his thumbs. Very groovy stuff.

Tim Neil then took the stage to present an overview of the BlackBerry 10 architecture. This was Tim’s first appearance on the BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour and he rocked. Tim’s knowledge and experience provided the perfect combination to deliver the overview of the architecture while providing personal insight and real world advantages of the QNX kernel.

Tim’s expertise demonstrates what I’ve always said is the greatest thing about BlackBerry: that it is more than just a company, it is a community of committed developers, users, and employees. This sentiment was never more obvious to me than in Toronto. During the lunch break, a developer approached Tim, who is a key author on the bbUI.js project on GitHub, about a feature they would like to see in the framework. The developer asked if it would be possible to add scrolling panels to the bbUI project so you could have scrolling information surrounded by static information. Tim pulled out his laptop and by the time lunch was over, scrolling panels were part of the next branch in bbUI.js on GitHub.

Also during lunch, all the attendees were treated to homemade cookies, courtesy of another BlackBerry 10 Jam attendee, Phil Thibault, who made and brought cookies to the Jam to share. Awesome.

Like the other road shows, the Toronto show had 10 “lightning pitches”. The pitches in Toronto varied from people showing applications running on Dev Alpha devices to people with only a glimmer of an idea. The winner at Toronto was an app currently named Rocket App; although the developer admits that it’s a working title. The application calls the Next Bus API to get information about the bus schedules throughout Toronto. It shows a panel of the information and also a map of the nearest stops. However, Rocket App goes one step further by extending the experience beyond the glass. The application has a crowd sourcing feature that allows users to report the conditions of bus travel in real time. This way, not only can the user of the application get the official information from the Next Bus API, but they also get the first-hand experience through crowd sourcing. An excellent example of one of the key BlackBerry 10 tenets: Extend the application beyond the glass. Great job!

After lunch, the attendees moved to the detail tracks. The WebWorks track was led by Tim Windsor with the bbUI.js and Alice.js session presented by Tim Neil. All the WebWorks track talks were standing room only. Clearly, HTML5 is a key platform for BB10. Tim Windsor provided excellent in depth information about the WebWorks platform and some of the surrounding frameworks. The questions were also incredibly detailed which tells me these developers are already heavily invested in HTML5 development.

On the other side of the lobby, Shadid Haque was presenting the NDK detail track. Just like the WebWorks track, the room was standing room only. Shadid presented all afternoon covering the basics of using C++ with the NDK and also how to integrate with QML for interface design. Here too, questions were not the simple surface question, but in-depth and each question seemed to foster a discussion among the BlackBerry community.

Across the sky bridge, Brent Thornton and Jim Ing were delivering the enterprise detail track. This track gave members of the BlackBerry community the opportunity to learn about the enterprise space and get their questions answered by an expert.

All sessions were lively and the audience would move from track to track to absorb as much information as possible. Alas, all great things must come to an end and so must BB10 Jam Toronto. I would be remiss in closing this blog without acknowledging the tireless and awesome work done by all the people running the show. So, to Shelby, Susan, Catrina, Kate and Chris: a big THANK YOU!